Originally Posted by
chicagofoodgirl
Hi all! I'm a Platinum status on United but new at all of this.
I'd like to book our honeymoon flights to Cairo, Egypt this May but debating if I should pay the or use our points. I already added the expert mode but a bit lost! If I do the waitlist upgrade, does it automatically upgrade me? Also, if you don't get the refund, would I sit in Economy plus?
If I book for my fiancé and myself, does he get the upgrade as well? If not, we'll get both refunds ($ and miles) back?
It sounds like you're talking about paying for an economy ticket with cash and then upgrading using miles with a $ copay. In this case it is waitlisted and if space is available, you will be automatically upgraded. If still not upgraded at T-24hr, you will be put on the upgrade standby list at the gate and automatically cleared if there's a seat left. Upgrades are prioritized in an order but mostly boils down to status/fare class.
If you book for 2 people on the same reservation, prior to T-24hr, it's an all or nothing upgrade. If you're upgraded at the gate, you can be cleared one at a time. United will refund the ($ and miles) if your upgrade doesn't clear automatically although you may have to chase it down with United afterwards since the system isn't perfect at keeping track of refunds.
The other option you have would be to pay for a miles only ticket. You can search united with the "redeem miles" checkbox and this would be relatively little cash and much more miles. These tickets would also not earn towards status.